Friday, August 29, 2008

At last the build was done! Thank God the coding and stuff paid off just this 7:55PM. The reservation handler and the HTTP connection that I was coding were generating configuration files correctly through the XDoclets. You see I have been battling with the AIG Insurance booking for 5 days, sweating with the XSD schema for 3 days - JAXB at first seemed to me really unfriendly, and to top it all, been having issues with the HTTP connection. Today August 29, 2008 is really special, because at long last, the build and the configuration were okay now.

What pisses me off a little was my boss was always like checking on me every now and then trying to push me around. I don't know what was he trying to do but he is already bugging me. Well what I did was I emailed him of what are the things I have done so far including 2 days ago. Below is the content of my email and I quote:

"Me I know if there is any other information like DB configurationneeded for POS connection? The email you have forwarded from Alan Giles was right in mentioning that it lacked some information. I have checked the projects mentioned and just based my codes there. I have actually made the Connection Project for AIG and it is project 00006724 and it was already tagged in PROJECT_TDP_1_3_1_LAND_BRANCH. I would like to finish this up so I can finish also the unit test smoothly. Also I have made the base class for my unit tests which will be useful for handlers in reservation and shopping as well. It has with it the marshalling and un-marshaling code used in a JAXB instance as well as logging xml object which uses JAXB. I have also created my initial unit tests but haven’t wired it in my code because it will be a double work if I will proceed without the connection. Though I can opt to do functional unit testing but our project does not do that.

Things to do will be the following1.)Commit codes that I have in 6713 and 6714.2.)Continue the work on the connection3.)Continue to read the use case doc.4.)Add unit test items

I emailed you just to give you an update of what I have done so far and the things I have planned to do.

"

I don't know but it feels like I was in a prison cell during the Spanish era and he was acting like the Guadia Civil - walking to and fro. Oh I missed Exist Global, hehehehe.... Well he should be thankful for the simple reason that I have finished the tasks well ahead of schedule already.

I do hope I have explained myself to him well and hope he understood me well.

Anyway I have committed the 00006713(xsd schema) project updates to our CVS, but not the 00006714(handlers) as it goes with the HTTP Connection Project and some web like configurations. I think everything will be ready by Monday(crossing my fingers). I need to go somewhere and chill, though the office is really like cold but it’s suffocating.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

How to know if people around you are real? If people can be weighed or measured then, it must be easier than counting from 1-10. But, it's not the case.

We definitely can't avoid to meeting people in our lives. They come in different backgrounds - some are cute, loud, funny, scary, ugly, smart etc.... But come to think of it, why the hell it's important to know who are real or not? I think it becomes important when you have fully given your trust to them and has shared a part of yourself - thoughts, tragedies and happiness to these people. It matters most when you see yourself in them.

Getting to know the fake from who are real is not an easy task. It's even complicated, to actually keep track of them. And why would you do that?

Honestly, just let them live their own ways and in so doing live yours. One can always be open minded and accepting but not tolerating.

I for one once felt being betrayed by a friend. The best thing to do is move on. Just think of the fun things you had with that person or persons and just live your life without them but never closing doors. I thought to myself that I am not perfect and so I shouldn't be cynical and be mean. I just told myself that I can't be a friend to everyone but can always be civil with them. I thought to myself that I can be happy with some few friends and not everyone.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Most of my friends are working in a call center and in fact, my first job was with a call center too. Please forgive me if I may sound blunt or offensive. Peace....

To tell you the truth, it was no fun solving other peoples issues and understanding people of different backgrounds. A more difficult one, is when the person on the other line is not willing to cooperate. Honest to goodness, most of the time it was dreadful.

I was able to survive the grueling work for about a year and seven months. The ill effects of it were tremendous. I had irregular sleeps, most of the time I was irritable, dandruff started to mushroom in my scalp and gaining more territory than the MILF each day, my pimples were getting severe and I was always tired. Most of my breaks were spent on talking what happened just moments ago on the phone or how I got away from the irate customers. I've seen some that they were gaining weight not to mention that their skin seemed dried up.

Since money was there and it pays higher if you do great in your metrics or if you know someone in the higher echelons - office politics is rampant and promotion can sometimes be a little dubious; people tend to go to spas or flock in coffee shops. Meals from fast food chains were a box office too. Those who have developed the nocturnal rituals can be seen usually at late night bars or disco houses.

But why in the name of Mother Teresa is everyone wanting to continue their lives in call centers? Well reasons are reasons and they were there to justify and convince every single cell in our bodies. Some were dignified reasons and others were merely copied reasons, and just to have their own reason, one will pick any known reasoning to be his or her own. But some reasons were really truths in their own essence. Being martyr is a virtue but being a slave is another thing.

Anyway, after long months of reflection and and self evaluation, I ended up deciding for myself what I wanted to do. I decided which will make me better as a person and gladly took challenges which others did not. In short I resigned with a huge smile. Some of my friends actually are now taking courses to better their skills. Others created a career in call centers and did their best, and others decided that it's time to really start new tracks. I guess it's better to follow your dreams than to wear a hat that was never yours.

I think in general whether be in call centers or any company for that matter, if you feel you are still enjoying what you do and that you are not stagnating yourselves, then don't quit. But, if the whole charade is getting into your nerves already, it affects your way of thinking or behaving and you are becoming less as a person, then quit. Your work will not give you a bonus for being the most martyr or the most loyal in the company. Going to a dentist to pull out that bad tooth is more practical than that of medicating with pain killers.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

This has been long overdue already. I was planning to actually watch at Glorieta, "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor". Well I did watch the movie yesterday, August 16. The things that made it harder to watch were, my friends don't have any liking of the movie and yesterday, was the gala night of PDA. Anyway I went to Glorieta to watch the movie - I decided to watch it because it felt like something is missing. I was actually planning to just buy a pirated DVD but it would still be different when you watch it on a cinema.

The movie was entertaining.

Jet Li portrayed the role of the ruthless emperor Han Li. Based on my recollection, it was the time when Shih Huang Ti ruled China. Some of their information aren't accurate at all. Anyway, since Emperor Han Li wanted to rule forever, which was the only thing missing; immortality, he ordered his most trusted general to look for a witch and have him realize his wicked plans. The witch portrayed by Michelle Yeoh, told the emperor that she can't do it but she knows how and where to get the elixir of youth. Accompanied by the general, the witch went to an ancient library in search for the ancient script that held about the elixir. Well the general fell in love with the witch. Prior to that, before the general's journey, the emperor had an eye for the witch and told him that no one is to have her except him, emperor Han Li. The sorceress knew that the emperor was evil and so she double crossed the emperor by cursing him to an eternal suspension in a form of a clay. The emperor did not know this since only the witch knew what the ritual meant. Emperor and his men were cursed and was buried in the desert. Taken to the post world war 1, Rick O'connell's son went on a commissioned archaeological project and so found the tomb of the dragon emperor. The O'connell's went to China to deliver the key to the elixir as a gift to the people of China but everything were a plan all along by Alex' professor. And so in the museum, they have awaken the emperor but needs to bathe himself in Shangrila to gain immortality. That's where the adventure began of the O'connell's. They went to the Himalaya's to ward off the emperor. They fought with the emperor's men together with the Yetis. Oh I loved the Yeti's, they were so cute and huggable - I guess. Anyhow the emperor succeeded in going immortal and raising his terracotta warriors. The sorceress has risen the emperor's enemies as well by sacrificing her daughter's and her immortality. There was a grand battle but the emperor was more than strong for their own force. The sorceress took the fight with the emperor single-handedly but succumb to her defeat but got the dagger which can defeat the emperor. She was severely wounded and fled. The emperor went inside the temple to complete the ritual of immortality as well to his army. The O'connell(s) had the witch with less life already and was entrusted to kill the emperor with that dagger pierced in his heart. They went inside the temple and there fought with the emperor. A trick on the side of Alex, made a miscalculation on the side of the emperor and had his life's end with that broken dagger. And that was the end of the adventure.

I was not really super amazed with the movie but there were funny scenes and cute ones. I specially loved the Yetis. The tora-tora plane taking a landing in the snowy caps of the Himalayas was a funny scene as well. The effects were quite fantastic. To rate it all, the movie was average.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Yeah yesterday was the Beijing Olympics' opening. My condo mates' and my two eyeballs were glued on the television watching the grandeur of the opening. First off, there was a parade of athletes from countries all over the world following the Chinese Alphabet. It was kind of weird how it was but nevertheless the Bird's Nest Stadium welcomed everyone with enthusiasm. The stadium was a mega structure just by watching on T.V. and how much more if I were live to see it. I was very excited waiting for the team Philippines but na-ah I wasn't able to catch them because we need to switch channels for the PDA (Pinoy Dream Academy) program. When it was time to go back to the Olympics coverage, they were sort of wrapping it up already and team China was called, having Yao Ming as the flag bearer. The crowd cheered the whole parade. After the parade it was time for, Olympic flag ceremony then followed by the torch lighting to mark the opening. And yes, the torch lighting was awesome, super fantastic, amazing and name it great too. It was a show of the Chinese action scene, where that certain athlete flying on the walls of the stadium and sort of doing a marathon with the torch. It was really breath taking as if I was there. I had some goosebumps. After the lighting of the torch, it was the scene of the fireworks. The display was totally awesome. After all, the world owes to China the pyro-techniques technology.I can't wait to watch the telecasts of the games like the seemingly rigorous synchronized swimming, there's diving, bone or body breaking gymnastics, blow by blow for boxing, track and fields is interesting so I have it on the watch list too, and volleyball for women.

The $20-billion budget of the Beijing Olympics has summed it up in that historical opening. The next Olympics will be in UK. I think I should save more and work more for me to this time be part of the Olympics history, raw and live.

It's already 1:20 AM and still having a hard time to sleep. I was diagnosed to have LVH during the APE or Annual Physical Examination and because of that I have to change my lifestyle, my diet and do away with stressful stuff.

Well I am about to sleep like I really really want to sleep already. I can still hear my condo mates still chit-chatting from the next room and I am still here trying to record my thoughts.

Well a busy week I had. Not that busy, it's just that lots of interesting things happened. It was the grand debut of a search engine cuil , read as cool . I tried it out and I find it amusing as the way they presented their displays were quite crafted. I didn't really care if it's going to be a big hit but I think it is putting up a good competition with Google which right now is the leader in the online search technology. I found cuil interesting basically with all the sleaky layout with the search display and the search results were actually what I expected. It worked according to what I wanted it to do. Another thing eventful was that the Shares project where I specifically worked on the synchronization of PNR(Passenger Name Record) from the remote host and the database of our legacy system is already turned over. It wasn't done like the way it was planned but they have it cut. I don't know why they did it but one thing is for sure, the team were coding like blind mice. We did not have the complete specifications and everything were just based on some not so perfect assumptions. Well a new team was formed and it comprised of Ronan, Olga and I. Olga was appointed as our team lead (I'm glad of this) and we are now working on Sabre Profiling (CRUD of Customer's Profile) - another airline customer. Lastly, the Saturday that we had was exhausting yet fun. We went to the Asian Institute of Management to attend an "event". After that, we went to Glorieta and shop until we dropped.

Just as I was going to sign off, I realized something that patience is really a virtue. I thought that I was going to be satisfied with what I have. I thought that things would be better, but it seems that they are not. These ridiculous thoughts to some are valid for myself.

I am actually waiting for my contract to finish and after that my options are open once again. It is because of the contract that I felt a little choked. But I can still do the proper breathing though (not in a choir hehehehe.). It's going to be like four months left and I am free again. The waiting is eating me but I still am enjoying a bit. I try to fill my days with lots of fun and busy stuff to make me not notice the waiting. I read and read a lot to fill something valuable from the unproductive hours I've got. I like to program but not encoding. Sometimes rules are also annoying and too restrictive ones made me crazy how much more if placed in the wild? What I'm trying to say is that, I would love to have an organized work. I myself is already a complicated individual and the work shouldn't take a scene, if at all unavoidable at least with minimal part as in minute - quark level.

Well glad to know that I have learned another lesson. Hoping for a better tomorrow and happy life and that's patience for me.

My first thought on this was, why the hell did I set the Category to Religion when in fact it can't be part of this lineage. But why not ?

With the proliferation of social networking, with the likes of friendster , facebook , linkedin , multiply , etc., many of us seems to be addicted with it. I can admit that there's not any day that I can't seem to browse the sites aforementioned. I guess the new age or rather the way we socialize is through these media already. It has evolved in a whole lot of different ways - roller coaster if you may allow. Everyone is or has maintained not just a single membership on these web sites but even more than you can imagine. Mark Zuckerberg the CEO of facebook became a multi-millionaire in this business. Yes, it has become a huge business. It has become a religion in some ways. People may deny the fact and it's a fact already that they enjoyed going and surfing in these sites for long hours rather than going to ministries. These sites are becoming a way of living to not just thousands but to millions of earthlings. These sites have given birth to an avenue of relief in a sense that people find it relaxing just by clicking the mouse - have become a way we have expressed ourselves. Unimaginable things are coming more because of these sites. The idea of these sites becoming or maybe has created a religion already is not far-fetched after all.

I say that am one is addicted, ooops did I say earlier that I can admit? Anyway as for me, I never had all the intentions whatsoever for it to be my ruler. A more entertaining thought of it why I am into these sites because it's my way of connecting to my friends who are from Cebu and other parts of the globe. I may sound a little defensive but it's there for that purpose alone. Ciao!

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Lately, I have spent my late nights watching Naruto. It's a relief from my demanding work. Well I was able to finish the series just this morning and right now I am reading the manga version. Naruto manga is more updated and since I can't help my self a bit of the craving, there you go I am gluing my eyes on my laptop. Thanks to this illegal wi-fi connection, I am able to read the manga.

This has become an addiction I think. I just thought the manga would be boring but it turned out differently. I enjoyed it a lot.

If you like, try to visit this link by clicking this one here : Online Naruto Manga . Enjoy it yourself.

Insecurity leads to bitterness. It's like a done-deal because once you become insecure, you become bitter in the process. You will take every competition as a matter of life and death. You will become conceited and believe that it's you and the world only. You will slowly hurt the people around you and those you love. You dwell on intimidating purposely and make others feel inferior. For this, you won't grow as a person. You will begin to close yourself from other forms of beauty as you feel and believe in yourself that you are beauty in itself. You will not take any criticism. You will be offended as you believe that you are always right.

How to cope with it is simple yet needs commitment. Here's how.

Learn to be free and open. Create happiness within you. Let go of your ego. Go out with friends. Go nature tripping - travel if you can afford it. Listen to music. Attend yoga or other forms of meditation. Learn to love books and read them. Play charades or hide and seek with your children or younger siblings. Eat out with family and friends. Learn to cook and prepare food for your loved ones. Share your blessings. Learn to forgive. Thank the Great Divine. Explore and enjoy the very simple things in life. Live life!

I forgot to tell you that I was on leave last Friday and last Monday, June 20 and 23. It's because Ate Mars or Tmars is coming over to Manila again. I did not have plans really as to what to do but she emailed me that she wanted to go to Tagaytay, visit the Manila Ocean Park and do some shopping at Greenhills center.

Well on that Friday, her flight was delayed for an hour or two so instead of fetching her to the airport early in the morning I went there at around 12noon already. The plane arrived at around 1pm. I was waiting at the mouth of Manila Domestic while noticing the crowd so busy toiling their own businesses. At last I saw a glimpse of her and hurriedly took her luggage and went ahead to the taxi stand.

We got our turn and rode the taxi. He, the driver or as Jackson would have uttered it, "the it", was a little testing the waters just checking you know if we were strangers. After a few meters of riding he said that the old route was closed and so we will be taking a different one and there is traffic so might as well do so and he said that he will charge us a whooping 300 pesos for it. Blood rushed to my head and was annoyed by his stupid suggestion. I told him that we will take for a meter charge. He explained but I was not listening or rather Tmars and I talked in Ceblish (Cebuano and English). We pretended he was not there. When we arrived in front of the gate, ofcourse we paid the exact amount which was displayed on his meter. We then briskly unload our stuff and got out from the cab. Hehehehehe. I think he was afraid of the guard who came out off the gate to let us in.

We were really hungry so after we set the things including the goodies fresh from Cebu, we went to KFC to take our lunch which was way too late already. Anyhooo the hot and spicy chicken meal plus the refreshing strawberry fizz normalized everything.

We decided to go to MOA and watch a movie. We chose Kung Fu Panda in MOA's IMAX cinema. It was kind of okay and the sound was great and comfortable. The movie was very entertaining and full of lessons and I quote, “Yesterday was history. Tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift. That's why its called the present.” The movie was all about believing in oneself. And I so loved it! After the movie we went to a hobby shop and Tmars bought some stuff. We then went home.

It was a little exciting. We did not know what to do the next day. Ofcourse in our list it was going to Tagaytay but we don't know how to get there by bus. So we searched any information that might help us in where else the internet. Well I found a blog about how to get there and so the instruction goes like there are bus stations in LRT Baclaran. But the problem there is that I haven't been to Baclaran. I searched the web check for maps and all.

So the next morning it was drizzling and we took a jeepney ride to LRT Gil Puyat. Paid at the counter two cards for Baclaran worth 24pesos. Off we go. We even took pictures inside the LRT station. After a few minutes, Baclaran signboard were shouting right infront of us. Still no clue where the stations were situated. The place was rumored to be like Colon so we did not bother to ask any stranger and we paced our walks a little faster that normal. We went north and noticed that there was not any station. We asked a woman as to where we can get a bus and she pointed west and told us near McDonalds' so we followed her direction. We came to the highway of which I dont have any clues where but then I noticed that the signages of the bus there were not bound to Tagaytay. Okay I am a little freakish already. So we turned left and saw some buses and same thing still not bound for Tagaytay. It's already 12 noon. We can't take it anymore so we got to a nearby trisikad driver (a bicycle with a side car - it has three wheels and you need to pedal (sikad) for it to move which is why its called trisikad. ) and we asked him to take us to the bus station bound for Tagaytay. So he did took us to a bus station and there was only one passenger. I was wondering if we were to wait or what. After some 10 minutes of waiting the bus departured. We pass MOA then edsa then Pasay then a road which I am strange about. Anyway, little by little more passengers hop in as the bus was stopping from time to time. The bus wasn't enclosed and air conditioned. I can even still remember how the city smelled and thanks for the drizzle there was no dust on the road which sometimes is a desert storm in manila.

While on the bus I took some naps. We reached Tagaytay at around 2PM already. We were not planning to actually go overnight. We stopped in a nearby jeepney and tricycle terminal. We rented one of the parked tricycle and we headed to Picnic Groove(PG). The rain was still falling and thanks goodness we brought with us an umbrella. When we reached PG, there were sort of tour guides offering us some rooms to stay for an overnight but we told them that we won't be staying overnight. We just hurried to the tourist post which was just at the entrance and paid a 50 pesos for a fee to get into the facility. Since we did not have our lunch yet, we then went to the Pineapple restaurant and there ordered three courses and ate with gusto. We took some pictures. But prior to that there was this band who walks in beside your dining table and sing songs from OPM to some old school tunes to some latest ones. We were very hungry but did not eat just to make sure that we were not trying to insult them but the truth was we were really hungry - beast like hunger if I may describe. Well after two songs, thank goodness amen they went to the other table and for courtesy we thank them. Tmars and I shared the food which we ordered. After the meal we directly went out and look for this good view of the Taal Volcano. The rain actually stopped then. After some five minutes of walking we reached a sport were there was a trail. It was a 500 - 700 meter trail going to the view deck. It was actually at a mountain side where cottages are located for picnic goers. Before we followed the trail, we had a bit of photo-capturing session :P. Well, after a few minutes it rained hard and the wind blew towards us so we hurriedly went to the waiting shed. We stayed there for a cruel 15 minutes. After the rain became less and less violent we decided to follow the trail. Unfortunately Taal volcano was already covered with a misty fog but that did not stop us from enjoying the place and as usual we captured all the nice sceneries there. We passed by their mini bridge and took some pictures again. We then proceeded and followed the trail up until we reached a picturesque view and so we did take some shots and captured those moments. The weather was so bad that after a few minutes the rain fell terribly again. We just took the short way and went ahead to a nearby open cottage instead of following the trail to the endpoint of it. We took some pictures again in the cottage and the rain did not stop us. We were actually imagining that Taal volcano was just there at the background. After some few minutes of waiting, we felt that the rain won't stop, so we decided to just went up ahead and look for a souvenir shop and we did find one. I purchased some key chains which I will give to my housemates and a coin purse for myself. Tmars bought some shirts for her family in Cebu. After which we then went home. The bus ride took us two hours back to the city and we just hired a taxi going back to our condo. We were a little bit soaked and were also very hungry. We cooked noodle soup and ate. On the news the rain was actually a storm already and it's signal number one in Manila.

We slept at around 12midnight. I was actually awaken at around 2Am because the screens which were left open were banging because of the wind. I was kind of scared and had a palpitation as there was a strange sound. So I got up and closed everything. The weird sound was still there. I couldn't sleep anymore and my imagination went so wild. I stood up and reached for my self what was happening outside. We were located on the third floor and we have a mini porch so I went there and check the sky if there was a spaceship. There was none, yet still, it felt weird. I went back to my bed. I was going to wake Tmars up but she was already awakened because of that strange noise. I was actually just covering my body with my blanket except for my head as I was staring at the glass door what was going on outside. I can see the clouds outside and felt that it was like war of the world movies scene. I was really scared at that time. I thought of an alien abduction. I just prayed that things will be okay. I was able to sleep at around 4am. I woke up and it's already 12noon. I was so hungry. We cooked for our breakfast in lunch a.k.a. brunch. We ate and I went to sleep again as I was still so tired. It was a Sunday and the rain still poured. At around 5pm I took a bath after Tmars used the room for we will watch a movie in Glorieta. We arrived at Glorieta around 7pm. We shop some cheap shirts and after that had our dinner at Man Hann. Delicioso! The bill was a lump in my throat but it was worth it. We then went to the movie house and watched, "The Happening". It's another weird moview from Shyamalan. After the movie we went back home. We planned the next day to go to Greenhills shopping mall.

We woke up at around 8AM, Monday June 23, 2008. Tmars will be leaving for Cebu and her flight will be at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. So after we prepared ourselves, we went first to Kingswood McDonalds for our breakfast. After that, we went to LBC center to send Tmars' airbed to Cebu first for her stuff were getting bulkier and heavy. Then we took a PUJ to MRT Magallanes. We headed for the Ortigas station. It was a 15-minute ride. We then rent a cab going to Greenhills. There, Tmars splurged her cash for her "pasalubong" or gifts for her parents and her siblings. It took us around 2 hours to have bought everything. After that we went to Krispy Kremes and Tmars purchased 5-box of six of KK. We then went to KFC for lunch. After that, we went home.

We watched TV while waiting the 3pm mark for Tmars will be going back to Cebu then. Ding - dong! It was 3PM already and I accompanied Tmars to get a cab going to the airport.

Our next destination will probably be Hong Kong or somewhere out of the country.

It all started two weeks ago. We were watching PDA then. What blew my mind was that there was this certain "Inyaki" who sang Summer Breeze. He said that he did the arrangement of that song. Unfortunately for those who are not aware, his version was of Jason Mraz. It was Mraz-ish! He does not deserve that slot. Of course Joey Reyes who was not that updated was really amazed by what the guy did. It was a blatant stealing announced in national T.V. I don't know if this merits plagiarism.

I was kind of pissed because I am a fan of Jason Mraz. For him(Inyaki) to have uttered those words struck me so much. And that's why he deserves to be evicted from the show.

He is actually one of the nominees for the eviction this coming Saturday and together with him is Laarni. Laarni deserves to be in the show so she should stay. As for Inyaki, aside from the very beginning, owning which is not his and having a not so good vocals, should warrant for his eviction.

I am not a fan of Laarni so I propose that there be a category like Text to Evict. Number one in my list would be the you-know-who. Since there's not any format as what I am thinking, then I would be glad to give my vote for Laarni to stay because she is more deserving.

I got hold of the latest buzz from Microsoft'sWorldWide Telescope. I checked the requirements and it was memory expensive. Check the installation requirements: WWT Requirements . But my high end desktop (office pc, grin) was able to manage the whole download process and viola got to install it perfectly fine.The view was great as it shows some streaming of the solar system archived by NASA. It's fun and educational. I have so wanted to have a more vivid picture of the universe when we had our eartch science subject way back in high school and that goes to say that the books we were using then were not that picture rich.Anyway if Google focuses earth Microsoft has the Universe. No competition right?Try WWT for you to appreciate. Here's the link : WWT .

I actually don't know what to write. It's already 10:30PM in my laptop but in reality it's already 3AM. What we did was we had a drinking session. We had like two absolut vodkas, three 1.5 liters of sprite and a bunch of snack-ous. Hmmmm. We were a little drunk and another one puked. They complained that they were. Just for the heck of it waahhahahaha we need to finish this whole thing drink until we drool, eyes jumped out of our sockets and then crawl to the ground. Wicked!Another admitted that he is still sane even if he was most of the time talking to himself. I guess when we're drunk, we say what we want to say and give in to our inner selves. Someone complained that she was just eating and eating and then eat again. Is this freedom or just mere stupidity ? Wahahhhaha ! I don't have any idea at all but all I know is that we were having fun!

That was the fourth time we had a drinking session in our condo and we invited an officemate aka a friend at the same time to the place. Waahhahaha ! I am a little drunk when writing this one. It felt weird actually. I'm rambling here, am I?

He is like an empty cup trying to be filled with milk, coffee, lemonade, ale and soda. I guess there are people who are naturally insecure or just plain mean. Sometimes I try to compose myself and let things pass but there are cases wherein its getting inside me. I am not the type to disregard things as they are. I take things seriously in a crazy way. I want things to be fun even if how much it is demanding of my faculties or capacity. Nothing can change me but I am learning and trying to deal with it. The thing is I was not the only who have had to surmount his mirage of anger and frustrations. Anyone who will caught a sight of him will probably see the most conspicuous condition he has. I would say he knows what he is doing but he doesn't if he is doing it right. He sometimes is over the top. Other times he is an oddity to your senses. And things are simple the way they are. The sensitive me has to know more people and deal people of such level of non-congruence.

Happy thoughts make things pass away but I have a memory of the rat sometimes and the smell sticks to my nostrils. I have the ear of the nuctoid moth that sends so much information to my temporal lobe.

If I met him and he again babbles like a howler, my coping mechanism is to think about wonderland, think about God, think about happy things and the finale is eat a cavendish banana.

Yesterday was a little busy for me. I had to really manage my time wisely. The work that I have became so freaking demanding of my time. It's not that I'm complaining about the whole thing being so difficult but in a way getting into my nerves because of the fact that it's so time consuming. With the kind of nonsensical build environment and the waiting and the stupid behavior it has. I wish I knew the hard rudiments of ant to at least remedy it but it's not the case.

Well I was tasked to raise the jcoverage of the whole branch and it's crazy. The idea of making things work blew me up. The idea of me having to read the codes of others and understand everything is crazy. I have to admit though that what really blew my mind up is the fact that they did not have sample data input and output which made it kind of difficult because I needed to reconstruct all of these data files based on their schema. I have managed to make the unit tests of some alien modules but not everything. Even if I will have to make a clone of myself to help me work it out, I'd still not finish it.

The odd thing is they were making tests but were incomplete. If they have identified that unit tests were part of their SDLC then they should have alloted time to have it as part of their actual process. Period!

What I have told myself was just cool off. Just do what you can do and ask some assistance to the people who knew better. I don't know what they were trying to ask of me all I know they gave me the responsibility so I have to make it work.

Well the day ended with some build failures and just comment them out to remedy them momentarily.

Olga, Agnes and I went to KFC to eat for our dinner. We were waiting for our condo lady to get our monthly rental. Well I sent an SMS that we were at Dela Rosa KFC waiting. It rained so hard so we needed to stay there a little bit. Our condo lady replied to me that she will just wait for us at Rufino Plaza and that we need not to rush. When we were done at KFC we headed to Rufino Plaza to meet Ms. Gemma and pay the rent. We then headed to Krispy Kreme but a little surprise as Olga and Agnes told me that they were going to check some condo units at Cityland Ayala so I went by myself to KK. It was actually the fist business meeting that I have with Arjay who was a classmate of mine in CIT. So much for that. I was there at KK and ordered ginger ale and new york cheesecake. Hmmm sounds gluttony! Well I love sweets and I can't help myself ....

I was actually having issues with my wireless connection. My wireless g network device seemed not to pick-up any wireless signal. Well I gave up. I thought the drivers of this broadcom thing was corrupted. Anyway after a few minutes, Olga and Agnes came to KK and told me that the rain soaked them - bubble thought hehehehhe that was it because you left me, toinks. Anyway Arjay came and we had business. He installed a virtual pc in my OS. It took around an hour to have it set. Arjay sort of explained things to me and it made me a little excited. Well KK will be closing so we finished the whole thing we could, and set out to call it a night. The group actually discussed some technical and personal stuff. It was fun and exciting!

We part ways and went home at around 11pm I guess. Because of the fact that my wireless connection didn't work left me a little fidget. So when we came home I went ahead looking for the driver of my wireless g device without even changing my clothes. I went to the ladies room to have a chit-chat. I took my laptop with me in their crib with the driver of course. I reinstalled the drivers and kablam to my surprise it worked. Guess what? It even detected some wireless signals. Hehehehehe evil grin. Actually prior to that we were talking about some of our personal lives, you know sharing what we have, where we came from, and things related to that. It sorted of made you feel connected to the people around you and made you feel somehow different too. It feels different and amazing to understanding their roots. I'm glad to have known them so much deeper and better. Well Mamul welcome to the house. Anyway there was an unsecured network meaning to say it does not have any security toinks, 64bit or 128 bit encryption, wep or wpa ecryption. So we got our connection for free and still have it right at this very moment while I am creating this blog. Hmmmm. We watched Charice over youtube and played it over and over again. We were looking for some of Charice's other videos and it was fun and ala Olga from her radio-listening-quotable-quotes and I quote, "it doesn't change the fact that you are cheating". We got a stolen wireless connection.

My eyes were getting tired and felt sour. Is there such a word for the eye when it's sleepy? Anyway it's already 3AM and so I packed my stuff and left for bed. Zzzzzzzz.

This is going to be my first ever blog in Cebuano. I actually wrote this on a notepad and accidentally bumped into it when I was looking for the license xml file for my JUDE Professional. The note was entitled "walalang_blog_it" and here are the contents of it.

I had muscle pains almost all over my body after the badminton game. We were so hungry so we decided to have our dinner at KFC-Forum. As usual I got a piece of hot and spicy chicken and the most addicting and refreshing drink, "the strawberry fizz". Well after dinner we dropped by at National Bookstore. Olga and Agnes purchased some interesting books. I also purchased three P.Coehlo's namely, The Alchemist, The Zahir and The Devil and Miss Prym. I have started reading The Alchemist. It felt weird a little because it is his first book ever to make it big in the international literary scene and I haven't read it. I have recalled that there was a frenzy about the book when I was in second year college which was in 2002. I didn't care or bother to read maybe because people were so into it and maybe it was an over the top? I little dismay on my part when I tried to go through the first pages and there you go the first few lines were beautifully crafted. If I really really like the book I make sure that I read it carefully so until now I haven't finished it yet. There are still two books lined up for me and hoping they can be as great as the Alchemist. My personal favorites though will still be Eleven Minutes and The Fifth Mountain but anything about Paulo C. masterpieces are classics in their own magnitude and so they deserve to be part of my collection.

At last the project release is over. The web services I have created are now ready and functional and have been merged to the main branch. Thanks to my mentor for being there when I have tons of questions in my mind. Though some of which are manageable, most of them were really system specific behavior. I even had a hard time during those days because of their ant builds - trust me the builds were crazy. I even broke some of them and spent countless hours checking where or what caused it and fix them to the point of doing overtime. I wondered what if we were using Apache Maven. Is it really a good idea then to use Maven for this?

Anyway I did some readings regarding build and repository managers and found out this software called, "buildr". It's claiming and attested by some software developers that it's a really great product and it's 50% faster than Apache Maven. That's just awesome I guess. I want to try this tool some other time because this week as in right now, my schedule and load is coming back to not being person friendly - I don't know if there is such. The last week was terrible but then this week, they are giving me a "priority task". It's going to be another service for which will function in lieu of the former service I created once the information there expired during the session. Bug me! I do get what services right now but hell don't get why do they have to create a service because the session times out? why not store it as a session in the server instead or cookie to the clients computer and just delete the cookie after the client has timed out. But I'm not the architect, so I don't know what I'm talking about. I have to admit that the suggestion I did doesn't sound viable for maybe it has so many unproven issues. Anyway I'm working on this service and wasn't convinced with its implementation. So that was a show stopper for my coding job. I wasn't able to even materialize what I was supposed to do but at least the classes were there but with out substance. What I did in order to feel better was finished the unit tests and system test which were affected by the overhaul which we term in computer lingo as refactoring. It was crazy since the previous developer resigned like months ago and because I wasn't the one who created them, I have to peruse every detail of code and made sense with it. I was able to get it though. I finished just right now the failing unit tests and system tests. But my guess it that some issues will again arise on the unit tests because of this new service that I will be making. Indeed so much work to do. And beat this task at hand was assigned to me which I have to finish by next week Friday. Anyway, my mentor approached me and gave a background on the service which I will be making. Hope everything has sank into my system and my subconscious will act and work on it laboriously so by the time my senses has caught me up, everything will just be encoded even if it's just rote. I can deal with that!

Going back to the build tool we are using, ant is making my world crazy. The code is becoming dirty and less friendly. Just a thought, when will this project use better build tools and stuff? Or do they even care to consider changing their build tool? Worse, they don't know of any better build tool - that's outrageous! The one thing that's a little disappointing is that they have identified that their ant builds are getting some kind of slow and stuff yet they are not planning of changing it. So I guess they don't see the other side of the one peso coin, the what-if just what if they were using another tool. I'm just a little affected by it because they were having some Ant 101 just to inform us on how to make builds faster.

Anyway it's getting a little late so I need to sign out :) My friends are actually waiting already at Greenbelt for a karaoke session. I just thought of writing this rant once and for all so I can move on. I just need to go with the flow as to how this legacy system was designed. I just thought that their build design is a not so okay (I would have written a little inferior to be honest but I need to be as considerate as possible as I have promised my self - Wahahaha! there you go I blew it up.).

Things aren't easy but I'm tougher. What can I expect? They say we have to choose our own battles, but what if, just what if from the very beginning it has chosen you? So what else can you do? It's either you declare war with it or just escape. Right now, it's kind of hellish as I face these new challenges. I'm far from home, miss all my friends and best buddies, my two pet dogs, my dad and my brother. I wish things were easy but hell not. Damn these trials are breaking me. But I don't know what else to do right now. I can't call it life's joke though because it's not even funny. I can't call it tragedy since we don't know the outcome yet. So tell me what to call it so it will be defined and from there draw some plans? Whatever it is, I declare war!

I really miss Cebu - nice people but not all at least most of them, great friends, my family and my two pet dogs; so much that I like to always imagine things during the cold nights that I have to be still with them. Technology may somehow ease the distance or communication but still the longing and the bonding isn't complete.Anyway I flew to Makati, Philippines to work at Rendition Digital. I accepted the job for some personal-non-disclosed reasons and some career related stuff. Though I'm loving Makati for what it is, there are still some emptiness I felt. Thanks to my two housemates, Ronan and Olga, they make things lighter.The past days that I have in Makati were really adventures. We toured Makati Ave. and Ayala Ave. on foot from our condominium here in Pasong Tamo, we were trapped at SM Makati during Trillanes' seige, walking along Paseo de Roxas to go to Citibank even if it was drizzling and many more to come I guess.Since Christmas is fast approaching, I will be having a four-day vacation in Cebu. Thanks to RenditionDigital for they will shoulder my roundtrip tickets :). So you guys just wait because we can again morning-the-night. I'm so excited of the exchange gifts but haven't got any clues as to where this is going to be held. So make the plans ready the soonest time possible MJ.And Oh, I'm thinking to buying a laptop and having an internet connection with it so I can work at home and play some strategic games. I find it boring just watching cable T.V. and reading. It's not that I dont like them, I just felt that I needed to do a lot of things; I definitely love to watch T.V. and reading my favorite novels. I'm actually planning to buy new novels from Russian classic novelists as well as some masterpieces of Gabriel Maquez. I also want to complete my collection of C.S. Lewis novels. So if you want to give me some Christmas present, why not buy these books for me.Facebook is still the best thing online. I like to just play simple games or web applications it houses. Try it and you will definitely be hooked too.I want to eat home cooked meals. I miss the food my dad cooked for us. Hehehehe. We've been eating canned foodies mostly tuna and corned beef.I miss badminton. I wanna buy a new racket and play again. Love to sweat and get rid of some programmer's belly that I have. Bwahahaha. The good thing RenditionDigital sponsors for the court at a badminton sports facility somewhere in Pasong Tamo.Next year, I love to go somewhere else for a vacation. Hot in my list would be Laguna, Batanes and Hong Kong. I just need to save more to realise these plans.Plans, plans, plans ... grrrrrrrrr... I have to make them work! Ciao :P

The tenacity of fun has always been spelled with the word Friday. You heard me perfectly right. Anyway the Friday I had was great. I took off from the office at around 7:10PM and headed to SM. I was with the impression that MJ was there already but she was still in a PUJ heading to the mall so in other word I came to KFC earlier. Usually we dined out at KFC because of the Caesar salad that I’m now loving and the hotshots meal that I will cut throat with; pretty obscene but hopefully not. I ordered the meals I have mentioned for myself and got a Go-go meal for MJ. Go-go meal is a chicken strip with lettuce, a slice or two of tomatoes, and mustard as a dressing. Well after some few minutes, MJ came to our rendezvous. She was in black tight tank top I guess =)) don’t curse me if I got it wrong anybody; and a pair of skinny jeans. I was particularly wearing a brown Bossini polo shirt and an already three days-old-without-wash, Levi’s jeans. We started to eat at around 8PM with the usual fun chit-chat. The talks were circling more on what has happened to us in around a week, be it bad and mean or happiness and surprise. I met at KFC some of my ASI mates. I saw Andy, Eloise, Dhunve and July. There was a business to talk about with some of these peers and some fun little talks. I asked Eloise of some Nihonggo reviewers and that she made a nod. I am so thankful of that Eloise-san; such a nice friend. I went back to MJ’s table and finished everything we ordered. After that, I went to Union Bank to get some cash. I withdraw a thousand or more but I can’t say how much. We then went to fourth floor where SM cinemas are located. We decided to watch Bourne Ultimatum. Just a spoiler, Jason Bourne aka Matt Damon is in search of his past long before, has come to know how he got into his current life as an operative of the CIA. He will not be killed in this movie so probably another Bourne movie might be on the road show. Anyway my rating for Bourne Ultimatum is an A. It’s a nice movie. Definitely not a trying hard action packed movie. The night was not so young when the movie ended. It was still 10:30PM. MJ has a night-out with her Etel pals and I was invited by her. There was a problem at that time whether she’d come or not. We walked out of the mall and walk through Andok’s and from their decided to go with the night and have fun at Paseo. My back pack was a little cumbersome since it has with it my company laptop. MJ and I decided to go back to my office to leave my bag for safe keeping. We rode 04L bound for Lahug and stopped at the engorge of IT Park. I2 was just a five-minute walk in a slow pace and it’s where our office is specifically at the south-east wing of 8th floor. I saw Juvy an officemate of mine sitting on the side seats at the building’s entrance. MJ and I then proceeded to the eight floor and got inside the office. I took my ID and wallet out of my bag and got some coins from the front pocket. I hurriedly swiped my proximity card to get in and left the bag on a chair in my assigned cube. I quickly went to the pantry though dark since I didn’t bother to turn on the lights and got my self a drink of cool water from our dispenser. I then went out with MJ who I left at the receiving area – Michelle’s area. But before we got out of the building, the reception phone rang and I took the charge to answer it and surprisingly it was Jann our IT guy. Well he was looking for Juvy and at his end he kept on asking who I was. I believe he was in a disco house since the background music was really loud. He then managed to get what I was telling him. After such, we headed out of I2 and got a cab going to Paseo.

We came to Paseo and entered the disco, cigarette smoke, beer and music complex. It was really, really crowded but wasn’t a mob. People of all sorts were there I guess except those who have chosen not to be there. Wahahahahahaha! Anyway, we went to a table in front of an ethnic named bar. There were some of MJ’s friends in there already and they were Janice and Angel. They had a pitcher of Margarita. I took a gulp or two and after that we ordered red horse beer. The music in the complex got nicer which made me dance on my chair. I got a stick of Marlboro light and puff my first one on that night. Charisse and her pseudo guy came in and after some minutes Phil who also worked at Etel also came. The next batch of red horse beer came. I felt a little groggy already. I went to the CR to pee so many times because I am not used to drinking alcoholics. The music began running into my veins after nature’s call so we just heated it up and moved the chairs and dance the groove. We danced and jump and sang aloud so carelessly. I knew I was really drank during those time since I couldn’t even control myself much. I say what I felt like saying. I was also able to prove to myself that I can handle myself well when drunk and caused no trouble at all. There were some people on the other table and Angel invited them to dance with us. It was super fun dancing with people you don’t know. I didn’t even know their names but our group and theirs just moved our hips, tap the shoes and wave our hands – really the likes of a free being. We ordered another set of red horse beer and a pitcher of Margaritas now in orange flavor from the latter which was strawberry. I liked the orange flavor. Oh I had my second stick during that crazy early morning. The place began unpacking, and the fleet of people just dried up. It was already 3 AM. So the group decided to go out and headed off to Pump, another disco house and a wild one. We rode a cab and got in there after a few minutes. We paid a hundred each for the entrance. I then ordered an iced tea then dance again together some of my new friends. It was morning already, so we got out of the place and went to Chowking Fuente. Most of us ordered some hot noodles. After the noodles session, I got a better sense of myself already though I’ve noticed that I became so loud at times when drank. My body was really ripping off tired. I felt falling though a little sober. After some talks the group decided to part ways and headed home. I felt I needed to get my things so MJ and I decided to go back to my office and get my things. MJ decided to just wait for me at the building’s entrance and so I went ahead on my own. I needed to pretend and look fine so the guards won’t reprimand me. I got my things and then we had a few minutes walk going to Sta. Lucia realty to take a public utility jeepney. After the ride we took a tricycle going each of our houses.

I was totally dead when I got home. I mean I can hear my body shaking a little bit of the tiredness I felt from the craze. Well I had fun though doing it and am very open to proposals of getting another Friday for a night out. I then washed my face and changed my clothes then sleep until I can regain the vigor I needed for another night out on a Saturday.

This is quite unbelievable for me to spend the last three months without even blogging and needless to say, I just wondered as to how I am not doing it anymore. And right at this very moment still haven't got any speck of clues. Well just read on because I'm going to detail what has happened to me for the last three months....

While doing this blog, I'm listening "Confession", a song from Josh Groban. I guess his songs make me feel to just tap on the keyboard and make me capture the past months which have been so tough. Well I'm not going to sell anything but this is how i see or feel .

Anyway as to the content of my last write up if you were able to read things in between lines, yes I am now working in a new company. It's in I.T Park I2 Building, Lahug Cebu City. The job is really new to me since I wasn't really a Java programmer not until recently or I mean last December of 2006 I get to relinquish some of Java stuffs which I learned way back in college. Well this is going off course if i will have to detail what happened last year right? So let me continue. I got in this new company with really great hopes not just professionally but as well as some personal aspects. I honestly did not know or any slight idea what I am going to gain or will it be a gain if so....

I was introduced to the company and some of its employees together with some of the engineers who were then also newbies during that Monday of April 23, 2007. Well we were so excited and so refreshed. Most of the people who were already at Exist were actually from NEC and some from Pejman. Olga was with NEC for almost 3 years so she kind of knew some of them at least by their names and others by familiarity of face. The adjustment wasn't that hard since the environment was welcoming, too. The first week I had with Exist was that I shared a laptop with Olga since there were no available ones for me to use. I shared with her for about a week up until the dell d520's came and were distributed to the newbies on the Friday of that week.

The laptop was a little puzzling at first. I did not know then how to navigate basically how to click and double click without an external mouse. It was a little scary for me at first but got used to it after a day. I can still remember that the first thing I did with the laptop was to install "Ubuntu" on it but had problems on my wireless connection. It was a little frustrating since without my wifi working, I can not obviously connect to the network but luckily our IT guy helped me with it. The first program I installed then was Yahoo Messenger then Thunderbird and IRC X-chat. The next week was a little bit confusing since I personally did not know what to do. I just studied and reviewed lots of Java stuffs like design patterns, OOP concepts, Swing, Struts and others. I think I forgot to mention that we ate at E-diner. Yes you heard it right. We ate there almost always during our lunch breaks. We also spend our afternoon break at Convenience store mainly eating something good for us to give like 30 minutes of break and talks; purely discussing anything what has happened during that day. Well most of the topics were sensitive and personal and I can not share it here since they involved really private individuals. They are not celebrities or some royalties though but they deserve privacy. Going back, I was assigned to a project called Kepler. I got deployed to the project after almost three weeks of not doing anything that valuable but I gained something though. The project I'm in is so new to me. It is so big that the universe seems to be just a dot as I see it. Well a part of it is the module that we are currently working is a plugin in Eclipse. For some information, Eclipse is an IDE where you can do almost anything you can in computer programming and Java is the main act. Well I was studying Eclipse plugin development at the same time trying to understand what the project is. The pressure was really there and it's getting into my nerves. I feel that my future depends on how well I do in this project. But all I know is I have to make this work. Olga and Pyao did not have any project so they did not have any clues as to how I really felt but then their support was really great. Anyhow, the weeks passed by and I began learning how to do some of the plugin stuffs. I learned some of its ins and outs. My teammate then gave me some tasks. Although I admittedly was having difficulty at first, but I mananged to at least finish and understood what it was. From him I learned some SVN stuffs in DOS.

At Exist we get to work 48 hours a week, we get to spend most of the time at the office mainly doing various stuffs. If I feel so sleepy, I try to watch some videos over youtube then after that get back to work. Of course I cannot deny the chat sessions going on using YM. Because of Pyao I learned to play DOTA too. Pretty much entertaining as I was new to it. In fact I downloaded the game from Pyao's LP and almost always play DOTA at home if I dont have anything to do. Chat sessions, Youtube and DOTA awakens the nerves you see? I hope Exist wont ban these amusements.

Going back to work, I forgot to mention that in this project I'm with, we were only three; me , my teammate in Cebu and one in the US who is our project lead. We report to him as to what we were doing basically what we have been busy about. Me as the new guy don't really know how to give a good answer. My most common response would be studying the code and understanding the project. This ran on for a week. Then they assigned me some tasks like changing doing updates in our update site where we post a specific release. I usually get most of the instructions from my teammate. I'm lucky enough that I can recall most of the things he was instructing to me. I mean I'm lucky to memorize things quickly thanks to the genes. If it were not then I may have been kicked off. Well most of the tasked I was in during the first weeks were basically updating the site and stuffs like running some svn checkout.

I think its the third week when our CEO came to exist for the company blessing. The company president and the big names of the company who were based in Manila also came. The blessing took and there was a great party at I2's roof deck. The scene was enchanting as you get to see the city on top of the building though it was a little humid. The food was great and the wine was a little strong but i like it. Loved the lechon, some beef and pork thing. The desserts were good. To wrap it all, it was a hearty dinner. The weekend came and the CEO invited some employees to go to Bohol and so I jumped in. It's my fourth time I think to be going to Bohol. I thought it will be a good experience so I just joined and it's for free. We departed from Cebu on board an ocean jet, a fast craft i think on a Saturday. We arrived in Tagbilaran almost luch and we were fetched at the Port and headed off to our destination at Alona in Panglao. We had some minutes of rest and had a good lunch after. I changed my clothes as the plan for that day was to go snorkeling at Balicasag. So that was like 2PM when we rode a pump boat. It took like 45 minutes to reach the place. Balicasag is actually a huge coral Island. We brought bread with us and got our gears. The fishes were great though most of them were not recognizable but their site and the corals themselves were delightful. It was a different world as I see it and way peaceful. Well the only disturbance would be us trying to chase some school of fishes. Oh by the way, its not that Im so stupid about sea creatures well I saw a clown fish; just remember nemo. I saw some giant slugs like they were black and their edges look like ruffles. I guess they were about 6-8 inches long. Really interesting seabed crawlers. I have seen some starfishes which comes in orage and blue. I have seen some coral fishes too. There were some brain corals and spiny ones. God what a blessing these resources are as I recall them. Well we had almost an hour and a half of fun snorkeling then we headed to the resort of our CEO. Well the place was not that developed yet but the and and sea was obviously beautiful and by the way it's right beside Bohol Beach Club. While waiting for our dinner, we just sat along the beach pavement which was cemented and had some chit-chat while others enjoyed swimming and playing. Dinner was ready and the soup prepared was excellent. The seafood were really fresh and they were very delicious. After dinner we went back to the resort where we checked in. I took a bath and changed then watch a cable show. Then sir Jerry knocked and told us that we are going out for a night and so we did. We went to this disco bar at Tagbilaran. It was entertaining. We drank tequila and also danced. That night was good but i felt a little groggy. When we came back to the resort that was like really late already, I just dropped on bed and really slept hard. On the next day, we had breakfast and after that we set off for Cebu. Though that was a fast paced experience, I enjoyed most of time though and thanks to Exist.

This is work again you bet! Well I'm having programming tasks already after the fun in Bohol and most of the time they were clueless. I have finished most of them but I'm not pretty sure if they were the best solutions. I just knew that I'm getting there. I still have lunch almost always at ediner and goes for an afternoon break at the convenience store which I now named the inconvenient store mainly because of their over priced goods.

(This is to be continued, I just needed sleep. Hehehehe. Yeah its kind of late already!)

Let me continue then... it's about 10:59 in the moring of July 23, 2007. This is still part of recalling the events which took place in last three months.

The next week came where i was given a task to copy build information from the IDE to some writing application like notepad or word.... I finished it in a day but prior to that I did not have any idea how to start it. I had to do some research over the net and ask Olga about stuffs. Well she gave me the idea of using the clipboard. From there I was able to finish the task. Thanks to her the Clipboard API in java was the answer.

On the weekend, yanna sent an MMS that we are going to kawasan. I got so excited about it because I havent been to the place. Even if I was on a tight budget I was not going to allow to say no. So I did went with Yanna, Olga, Ron, Jess and Opaw to kawasan. We met at CitiLink bus terminal but we actually rode a van. We came to the place almost lunch time. We were planning to rent a place at Aplaya if I'm not mistaken that should be name of the place, but then the resort is already fully booked so a guy accompanied us to Kawasan Falls because there were actually available rooms for rent. We decided to trek going to the second station of the falls. Before reaching the first station we saw a woman selling bebingka so we ordered one for ourselves and ronan paid the bills. Thanks to him! Anyway we came to station one and the place was crowded but the falls is really beautiful. We were so sweaty since the trek was a little rough for us city people. We ascend a little bit since second station is a little over on top. We came to the second station a little hungry and tired and really sweaty.... We got a room and unpacked our things. We then ordered something to eat. After we had our lunch, we decided to go to station one, the source of the water falls. It was another trek and again the place is rough and slippery. Some parts were treacherous and slippery but it was fun. We came to the source after 15-20 minutes of walking and climbing. The place was beautiful. We swam and bathed and had fun. Thanks for Opaw's tripod we enjoyed the pictorials. Almost everyone had there digital cameras so capturing every moment of fun and excitement was not a problem at all. After we satisfied ourselves, we decided to go back to our place at station two. We were so tired when we arrived there. Some of us just enjoyed the view and others just couldn't help but went to bed but not sleep though. It was getting a little dark so we decided to have the uncooked rice be prepared by the room keepers and we paid I think 20 pesos for that. We brought two kilos of marinated pork so we barbecued it. Opaw could not get a good signal so they went out to get a good one and Opaw also bought some ice for the drink on that evening. After we have readied the food we ate until we filled our stomach with gusto. After the meal we sort decided to take a dip on the opposite side of the falls where there was a raft. The water was really freezing then. After that, we got another bath and changed clothes. Opaw then readied drinks - lime and gin. Cracklings tasted great with the drink. It wasnot that plentiful but it sent me groggy to bed. Opaw just saved everyone since he was the best drinker ever in the group. Along the session of course there were some fun talks. And just a hint, Ron told us his biography.... Well we woke up around 8AM and it was a Monday. The place was not that crowded but people were beginning to camp. Yanna got up and ordered food for us. Instead of waiting for the food for breakfast and doing nothing, we decided to have a good morning swim. Yep the water was really cold, though was not freezing but it felt like it was. Before we started the swim we again took some pictures. It wont spell fun without it. After the swimming stuff at station we got out of from the water and prepared for breakfast. The food was really good. It was the tastiest "pork sinigang" I had. It was really a good breakfast. Ron decided to went ahead of us to the city after the meal. And yeah we did took our lazy time in our room while preparing on returning to the city. After I took another bath I got a nap.... When everyone was finished, we decided to trek headed for the main road. Along the trek we never missed to capture some fun moments. If you don't mind you can check out my photos in this site. Just go to my profile. We road a bus and stopped at Jolibee Carcar to eat. We bought some chicaron and then rode a jeepney bus heading to the city. It was so tiring and really draining because the ride was really bad and if ever I had another chance I won't be riding that jeepney bus or any jeepney bus for that matter ever again. Well after the ride we hired a taxi - Yanna, Olga and I. Olga and I had to be super fast since we had a schedule that day to play badminton with the Exist peers. So I sent an MMS to JM that we will be late for some minutes. When I reached home, I just packed my things and went to the main road. Olga was with a taxi already so she just fetched me and we headed to racket zone at Montebello. We played badminton until 9PM. It was a good and tiring game though. After the game, Olga and I went to Chowking and ordered spicy noodles. After we finished the food we went home. I arrived home really exhausted. I just washed my self, changed and then went to bed.

God that was a really great experience. I was so exhausted but I did have fun.

The next week came and I was tasked to do some documentation. I was assigned to four features to do a Specification design. It was so confusing since we did not have any base document to follow. I was lucky to work at NEC for some months so I was able to recall what's a design specification but still confused because what we did at NEC were basic and detailed designs. So I decided to just make a basic design of the four features. Lucky enough when I submitted my work to my project manager he appreciated what I came up with. I was the one who merged the documentation and I was able to finish it on time and that was a Friday.

The next week, our team lead who is based in the US asked me as to what I was doing. Of course I cannot say that I am busy and really that busy so I told him that I was reviewing the codes and studying it. Then he asked me to choose a feature to solve so I chose one. At first the feature I was trying to code looked really difficult. I did not know what to do with it. And so I tried to investigate and then tried to redo the classes being set for me to use. After a day or two of coding I was able to finish it.

Well the coming week is going to be busy then because our France, Australia and US counterparts are going to come over to our Cebu office. That's right. It was a Monday, July 17, 2007. Devzuz engineers from other parts of the globe came to Cebu and had a luncheon at Abuhan Tres. I had already my lunch at Ediner and after there I received an MMS from JM that I we will be meeting at Abuhan Tres for a luncheon. Well I came to the place just on time and after some minutes of waiting, Devzuz peers came. The lunch was ready after some few minutes. The food was great and I only ate less. Just trying to taste a little of everything as I already took mine at Ediner. After lunch, we went to I2's 8th floor where our office is located. Before the presentations of the day began, we introduced ourselves to each and everyone - talking some personal information. After which, the discussions of devzuz project took place. After all the discussions conducted by our CTO, a dinner was reserved at Marriott Hotel poolside. Well I kind of had a cough and colds then but I had to go since the event was really special. I just brought my medicine with me so I won't have a miss. The food at the hotel was great and the music though average was still entertaining. I ate some potato, a quarter cup of rice, sole fish and pork. I also got myself a plate of caesar salad and pineapple juice. I finished the meal with so much satisfaction akin to a heavenly delight. Well there was still salad inside the hotel so some of us went there and got ourselves more desserts. I ate and ate until i was full. The night was great. A sumptuous meal it was then. The executives and other employees were invited at the Loft for an after night party but then I need to take a rest because of my colds. So I decided to go home earlier than the others. On the next day, it was a presentation on Archiva one of the projects of Devzuz. It was really a long discussion. After the sponsored lunch, the discussion went on until 5PM. The company decided to have dinner at Golden Cowrie. I did not join them because I felt a little chill from the inside. So I was not able to dine out with the company. The next day, the discussion was focused on NMaven if I was not mistaken as well as Q4 Eclipse. Discussion went on until 5PM. The company decided to hold dinner at Krua Thai BTC. Since I was absent from yesterday's dinner, I decided to join. We dined at Krua Thai. Though the food was great, I was not able to to have a taste on most of them because they were crustacean seafood. On the table was the CEO of Devzuz. Ms. Mayka kind of did had a talk with the CEO but then we were a little obliged to interact because the CEO was also asking us things. We talk of different places and peoples as well as languages and a little of work related topics. There was a point where I don't know what topic to talk about as well as Ms. Maykah so we sort off hand signing whose to talk. But things went fine since Ms Maykah was a well traveled person. She was able to save the night. After a nice dinner at Krua, the group went to Formo for some sip. I only drank a glass of mojito and that was it. After some talks, Jevica and I went back to the office and after that I went home. The next day was a Thursday. the discussion revolve around the products of Devzuz used by some big companies, the future of Kepler project which I am a member and the Portofino project. These topics brushed off the day. I was not able to join their dinner because I was with my friends playing badminton at Patt's. So that was how the day adjourned. On Friday, it was kind of exciting since it was the last day. It was when projects' futures sort of road maps were discussed. After the long discussion it ended up at around 4PM. Some of the Manila based Exist employees went to Tabo-an, al local market, to buy some pasalubong. Some foreign counterparts also went with them which when they came to the office, they smelled like dried fishes. I really did not have a plan then of going somewhere but then Ms. Nene told me that I have to be there so I just jumped on board and went with them. We went to Waterfront first then proceeded to Hola Espanol and Guissipe an Italian resto. I decided to go to Hola even if I was kind of hesitant because I'm not really into Spanish food. Well I was already there. I tasted a slice of lengua, sole fish and paella. I had wine, too. Since it was not a sweet one, I ordered a coke in can. My tummy was already full. But then our project lead ordered creama de ruxo. So we had a shot. It was not that strong and it tasted sweet. It's similar to baileys. After the meal we headed to Waterfront again and had a drink. I got myself a san miguel light which was what others had for that night. We had some talks of about anything. After the drink, we went down of Waterfront hotel which I am not familiar with and there we had a karaoke session. It was fun singing like three songs. Devzuz CEO was a good singer, that I and others discovered. The night went so late and at around 2AM of Saturday, the group decided to call it a day. So that was it. I came home late and just wash my face and went to bed. I woke up a little late like it was already 9AM. I hurried to take a bath and then headed to the office. I need to get my laptop since I was not bringing it with me the other day. After the office I went to SM together with Diane to get my Harry Potter 7 book but Diane actually went to Ayala, it's just that we had the same jeepney for commuting. It was already 1:30 PM and still haven't got my lunch. So I went to KFC and ordered for take out a pack of fries and a caesar salad. Gosh I think I'm liking caesar salad so much. I went home with my laptap, my Harry Potter book and my KFC meal. At home I ate immediately and tried to sort out things to do. The only thing I'm sure about was I am really very tired. So I went to sleep. I slept for about three hours. When I woke up, I was really hungry so got a tuna in oil and prepared for dinner. Really a simple meal compared to the previous dinners I had. After that good meal, I opened my PC and check my emails, read them, logged in to friendster and linked in. After an hour of surfing I turned off my PC and began to read HP. The book was really different from the pirated pdf copies I had. Lucky enough I sensed something fishy, something not-so-J.K.Rowling of the pdf HP7 I was reading then. Well the book is the finale and yes it's a masterpiece. I did not finish it even if I knew I can because I wanted to read it carefully to every detail as I could. I slept at around 1AM. Then Sunday came. I took a bath and had my breakfast at around 10AM. I felt still tired so I just watched cartoons. HP7 was just on my book stand calling me but I dared not open it. Though the urge was there but I did not allow myself to read the book. I slept again and when I woke up, I had my lunch which was late already. After that, I was not able to resist the temptation, so I got the book and read where I left. I finished lots of chapters and stopped when dinner was ready. After dinner I continued to read the book and stopped at around 11PM. It was getting late and I still have to work on the next day. But before going to bed, I decided to blog something. And this is the blog that I am publishing right now. Well officially today, July 23, 2007 is the exact 3rd month of my existence in Exist! I am fully aware that today is my judgement day but then it never happened. Just waiting for the updates. Anyway, I'm still gonna blog something. Something special to me and some of my Exist friends. For now, I need to sign out and go home....

The face of the headless hunter was growing furious and blood thirsty. Lines in his acrid monstrous persona have been reflected even if the milieu was a bit dark; a looming place of vanished souls. The peeping Parrotflee keeps on repeating what Mr. Tongueslip has triggered while Madam Ironknee keeps misleading the hard facts. The headless hunter's eyes grew larger with angst; most etched from the forehead down to the cheeks then to his chin. A little aback from where he stood, he tried to free his deathly blow by showing his fangs. Mr. Tongueslip was feeling a little scared but gathered some strength for what he believed and dared continue his reasons believing to create change instead of animosity. The account which was felt more of an ordeal sparked some thirst of reasons.

The moment Mr. Tongueslip's harangue about his freedom finished, the headless hunter changed his aura from the very baleful to a calmer one. There was a deafening silence in between. White and dark clouds in the sky remained stationary though. Even the beaver's blinking eyes and rodent's tail were put unto a halt. That was a vacuuming silence indeed. The only movement noticeable was the chill of the west wind.

Mr. Tongueslip's thoughts were all running a chase from every corner. He was waiting if the headless hunter will stab him to death or set him free. Mr. Tongueslip never realized what he did up until the silence grew intense - not a moment to debate anything. At last, the headless hunter broke it. He then let Mr. Tongueslip go but with disappointment for he was no way of defying Mr. Tongueslip's rhetoric.

Mr. Tongueslip quickly unleashed himself and jumped out of the cliff in course of getting far away. He rejoined his friend's after that sprint. They went ahead. He asked Ladyheiths if what has happened in her way to the valley of lost souls. She told Mr. Tongueslip that she was attacked too by the headless hunter.

After some hours of talking we went to some cozy place to relax. Together with other friends we ate and had some talks about the day's happenings.

On the next day, Mr. Tongueslip prepared himself for labor. He took a good meal after his bath then headed off.

The work went all fine. Nothing hard or special about it though up until the headless hunter was again searching for Mr. Tongueslip and now also with Ladyheiths. The news sparked some commotion. Mr. Tongueslip and Ladyheiths were in a brink of despair as the headless hunter cast some poison in their souls. The now tamed faces of the two have changed into grave anguish. Unperturbed day has turned into a skirmish.

The others came for support and everybody were thinking as to why the band of deathly hollows decided that feat. The band of deathly hollows was then the subject of dismay, arrogance, injustice and total ignoramus. Their cursive hands and lips were so naked that it even out shone the sun. Mr. Parrotflee just took off and slept; the usual doing of a falsehood masterpiece while Madam Iroknee licked her elbows. The rocks were changed into acrimony. The indifference was felt. The retaliation from the band of deathly hollows was unexpected. It was understood as something from sheer mediocrity. The band of deathly hollows'charade was totally a tweaked and wicked effort to show superiority; it was with the likes of a chauvinist pig indeed!

Mr. Tongueslip met with the headless hunter and now became Mr. Tonguesclip. During that time all he could devised was asking the headless hunter to spare his and Ladyheiths's rebirth in the Newland. Fortunately, the headless hunter concurred.

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